Competitions

Competitions

NIPA organises Inter-Club Competitions, an Annual Exhibition and many other photographic events/competitions, their programme can be found here.

Are you Novice or Advanced?

A 'Novice' is someone who does not meet the criteria set out below.

Details of club members' 'Starred' images can be found on the NIPA website. This will be updated following each Interclub Round, Competition or Exhibition. It is the club’s responsibility to use this information, along with any information it may have relating to sub paragraphs 3b to 3e, to determine if their member qualifies as a ‘Novice’.

The Rules

3. With immediate effect, a person will no longer be considered a ‘Novice’ when they:

a. Obtain two ‘Starred’ images in any NIPA Competition. For the purposes of this definition, a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in any NIPA Competition is considered to be the equivalent of a ‘Starred’ image;

b. Obtain a 3rd level academic photographic qualification;

c. Obtain a distinction from a National or International photographic body;

d. Obtain two acceptances in Salons, Open Exhibitions or the PAGB Inter-Federation Annual Print and PDI Competition;

e. Offer their photographic services, training or skills development for remuneration.

4. At any time, in relation to subsequent NIPA Competitions, the Competition Committee may, in consultation with the camera club, review the standard of an entrant's photography

NIPA Inter-club Competition

The Competition is held over the Club Season, and consists of 5 separate Rounds, with 3 sections in each:

Colour Prints

Mono Prints

Projected Digital Images

For each round a Camera Club can submit:

4 Colour Prints

4 Mono Prints

4 Digital Images

The Club holds a selection evening, where entries to represent the club are chosen. At least one of the entries in each section MUST come from someone classified as a novice.

Prints should be displayed on mounts no larger than 40cm x 30cm.

New for 2017-18 season: Digital Images to be sized to a maximum of 1600 pixels wide and a maximum of 1200 pixels high. Any image which does not match the above pixel dimensions will be displayed with a dark grey border. They should be in jpeg format and sRGB colour space.

Some Rounds are open (i.e. any subject matter whatsoever) and other Rounds are themed.

The subjects for the 'non-open' rounds of the 2017/18 NIPA Inter-Club Competition are:

Round 3 - InfrastructureThe structures, systems, and facilities serving the economy of a country, city, town, or area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function.

Examples:

Airports

Bridges

Canals

Coastal Management

Dams

Electricity

Energy

Hospitals

Lighthouses

Pipelines

Ports

Mass Transit

Schools

Railways

Roads

Telecommunication

Tunnels

Utilities

Round 5 - Food Photography

Still life or creative photography of food and drink (suitable for human consumption).

Each club submits their entries, for each round, and they are judged against each other. The top entries in each section get awarded points for their club. After judging they hold an exhibition of the entries and the three judges provide some feedback on the entries. The top half dozen entries will be awarded a NIPA Star.

At the end of the Season, the Club with the most points wins the title of NIPA Top Club. There will also be a winner of each Section, Colour Prints, Mono Prints and Digital Images.

All the starred images qualify for the Top Image Competition, where the best Print and Digital Image is chosen at the end of the Season.

NIPA Exhibition

NIPA holds an Annual Exhibition. Any Camera Club member can enter up to 4 Colour Prints, 4 Mono Prints and 4 Digital Images.

The prints must be displayed on a maximum mount size of 50cm x 40cm. All the entries are judged by an external Judge, who selects the Top 75 Prints and Digital images. These will be used for the Exhibition, which is normally held at the Waterfront Hall in December.

NIPA Novice Competition

NIPA holds an Annual Competition for Novice photographers. (as defined by the Rules on the NIPA website) Each member can enter up to 4 prints/images in each category, Colour Prints, Mono Prints and Digital Images.

Roy Finlay Natural History Competition

This is a Natural History Competition, consisting of any natural object or organism in its natural surrounds (i.e. cultivated plants, zoo animals or pets are not eligible).

PAGB Inter-Federation Club PDI Competition

Each year, every federation in the PAGB chooses two clubs to represent it in this competition. This competition is held in July each year, at the University of Warwick, and entries from NIPA clubs are needed in May.

PAGB Inter-Federation Club Prints Competition

As with PDI’s above, every Year the PAGB holds a top Club Print Competition and BPIC is representing NIPA at the Competition again this Year in October. The Top Camera Clubs in the whole of the UK take part in this competition, and the quality is second to none.

The competition is held in October and the Club selects up to 20 Prints from at least 5 members.

Celtic Challenge

This consists of print and PDI entires from each of the Celtic regions. Each region can enter 10 Colour Prints, 10 Mono Prints and 10 PDIs.

The Club holds an internal Competition for the ‘BPIC Photographer of the Year’ (Beginner and Advanced). For the 2017/18 season, this will take place over 3 Rounds, but as an individual you will enter only two of these rounds:

Fun Competitions

We also run some internal competitions more for fun than anything else!

Novice focused Competitions

Throughout the year the club will organise BPIC outings, some last-minute, others which are months in the planning. Each season we aim to have three organised outings aimed specifically at assisting our novice members to improve their photography skills 'in the field' and, to encourage this, there is a prize of a framed print for the best image of the trip, taken by a novice.